Chelsea are overwhelming favourites to win the Premier League after Spurs slipped up (Picture: Getty)

Tottenham’s defeat to West Ham on Friday night all but ended Mauricio Pochettino’s side’s title charge, with Chelsea now needing just six points from their remaining four games to clinch the title.

The Blues will move seven points clear if they win their game in hand against Middlesbrough on Monday night, and could wrap up the title just four days later at the Hawthorns.

Given the relative ease of their run-in – they overcame their final proper test with a comprehensive win at Goodison Park last time out – most fans and pundits believe the destination of the title is now a foregone conclusion.

But what if it isn’t? What if Chelsea’s remaining fixtures are bigger banana skins than people realise…

Chelsea v Middlesbrough (HOME – Monday May 8th)

Boro have had a miserable campaign, picking up just one win in their last 18 league matches and staring down the barrel of immediate relegation back to the Championship, currently seven points adrift of safety.

But their failings owe much to their excessive negativity and defensiveness. That approach has failed them across the season – they’ve drawn far too many games, the second most in the division – but in matches against the top seven they have actually been a deceptively tough nut to crack.

Although they have won only once in 12 meetings with the Premier League’s big boys this term, they have conceded a relatively frugal 20 goals – a figure that ranks them joint sixth, alongside Everton, Arsenal and Manchester City.

Chelsea were frustrated on their own trip to the Riverside, winning just 1-0 and mustering only three shots on target. In fact, Conte described that encounter as the most difficult of their then six-game winning run.

Spurs themselves could only win by a one-goal margin in both their clashes with Boro, while they picked up unlikely points at both the Emirates and the Etihad. Chelsea aren’t going to lose to Middlesbrough, but they’re not guaranteed a win either.

Slip up rating: 3/10

West Brom v Chelsea (AWAY – Friday May 12th)

Salomon Rondon had failed to score in 19 games before finally netting against Burnley (Picture: Getty)

In seasons gone by, an away trip to the Hawthorns – the claustrophobic and intimidating den of Tony Pulis – would have been treated with extreme caution. But the fixture is not being afforded the same regard this time around.

And understandably so: the Baggies are on a miserable run of form at the moment, losing four of their last five games and only picking up one win against the top seven all year, against an equally out of sorts Arsenal side.

PULIS THE PARTY POOPER

Tottenham failed to register a single shot on target after the 20th minute against West Brom when they met at the end of the 2015/16 campaign, and just two all match, as their title pursuit fell away at the hands of Pulis.

And yet, these are the games Pulis seems to savour most. In the 2014/15 campaign, it was a 1-0 defeat to Pulis’ Palace that effectively ended Chelsea’s charge. Last season, the Blues took the credit for ending Tottenham’s title challenge, but in truth it finished a week earlier when they were held to a 1-1 draw at home to West Brom.

The Baggies’ players were supposed to be on the beach then too, but there’s a galvanising, almost ethereal quality about a side unexpectedly being thrust back into the limelight, suddenly a major influence on the title race – you need only look at West Ham’s performance on Friday night.

There’s no pressure on the players, nothing to lose, and yet the game takes on the air of a cup final where the prize isn’t so much glory as infamy, the chance to spoil another team’s party. It’s what Pulis lives for. If Salomon Rondon’s strike at Burnley represents a return to form, who knows what could happen.

Slip up rating: 5/10

Chelsea v Watford (HOME – Monday May 15th)

Watford have largely under-performed this season, with pressure building on the manager (Picture: Getty)

If there is one manager in the Premier League, other than a certain Special One, who would love to rock Chelsea’s title ambitions, it is probably Watford boss Walter Mazzarri. The Italian has a long-running feud with Conte dating back to their time in opposing dugouts in Serie A.

Some five years ago, Mazzarri made a point of highlighting that Conte had switched Juventus’ system from a back four to the very same 3-5-2 formation that had turned Napoli into genuine title contenders. By the end of the campaign, Juve were champions and that same system remains today, as effective as ever under Max Allegri.

CONTE REACTS TO MAZZARRI IN 2012

“I’ve heard that the current Juve side are meant to be inspired by Mazzarri. Well you can copy numbers, but our mentality and the way we approach games is very different. Then there is the way we always want to take the initiative, our principles… do I need to go on?”

Mazzarri insisted his comments about his opposite number’s change of tact were not a criticism, merely an observation, but Conte and his assistants reacted badly. The sidelines became a tense and fraught place whenever the pair faced off again after that, not shaking hands and even refusing to look at each other.

Now they will pit their respective back three formations against each other. All the way back in August, before Conte had switched systems, his side laboured to a come-from-behind 2-1 win at Vicarage Road, mustering just one shot on target in the first 78 minutes. Watford have since won at the Emirates and are one of only three teams to defeat Man United. Perhaps Mazzarri can get one final big performance from his side.

Slip up rating: 4/10

Chelsea v Sunderland (HOME – Sunday May 21st)

Sunderland have only collected 24 points this season, with their relegation confirmed last weekend (Picture: Getty)

It is virtually impossible to make any legitimate case for a Sunderland result on the final day of the season. Chelsea’s other fixtures carry only the faintest whiff of a potential upset. Sunderland just plain stink. Perhaps, as they did against Hull, they can play with greater freedom after being unshackled by their confirmed relegation? Maybe Spurs’ favourite son, Jermain Defoe, will help his old club? Maybe Sunderland’s players will try to impress one last time to seal a transfer away? No, no and no again. Whatever result Chelsea need, they will get it against the Black Cats.